Posts Tagged ‘suicide’


Journalism ethics professor trivializes Univ of Virginia story

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Ed Wasserman was a reporter and is now a professor of journalism ethics at Washington & Lee University. He opined in his Aug. 29 newspaper column on the media about the Kevin Morrissey suicide story at the University of Virginia that would not have been a story without the “tilt of coverage toward this hot new social malady” (thanks for the back-handed compliment about awareness about workplace bullying).

(more…)

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Posted in Employer Action/Inaction | 1 Comment »



Kevin Morrissey suicide update

Friday, August 20th, 2010

The most detailed account of events at the University of Virginia that led up to Kevin Morrissey’s suicide can be found in the Charlottesville newspaper, The Hook:

Tale of Woe: The death of Kevin Morrissey by Dave McNair, August 18, 2010

Take time to read the several comments, including mine.

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Posted in Bullying in the News, Employer Action/Inaction | 1 Comment »



University suicide points to nonreponsive employer

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Ted Genoways, VQR editor accused of bullying by suicide victim's sister

At universities, people tend to think of teaching and research faculty and staff as the only employees. At the University of Virginia, the president supports a literary journal, the Virginia Quarterly Review, prestigious to poets and fiction writers. Kevin Morrissey, 52, the VQR managing editor had been hired by a young Ted Genoways, 38, new himself to the editor post in 2003.

On July 30, Kevin Morrissey committed suicide after a reported three years of torment by Genoways despite the two having a genuine friendship at the start of their work together.

There was a record of several calls by Morrissey to university institutional helpers (HR, ombuds, EAP, president’s office). Either his call for help was not answered or treated with indifference. Those familiar with Morrissey’s complaints said that the rationalization for Genoways was that creative people like him could be difficult to work with and were often bad managers! In other words, live with him, adjust to him, Genoways is indispensable. Note the abdication of responsibility by this employer for the safe working conditions of its employees.

(more…)

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Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Social Justice | 15 Comments »



Economic Distress Prompts Suicide Call Increase

Friday, August 7th, 2009

The federal government through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, part of HHS) is funding an additional $1 million for 20 suicide prevention crisis centers dealing with significantly more calls from people in economic distress (about 25% of the 57,000 calls in July). The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which routes calls to about 140 crisis centers across the country, is

1-800-273-TALK  / 1-800-273-8255

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Posted in Health Care, Science | 3 Comments »



Guest blog: Another USPS Workplace Tragedy

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

By Stephen D. Musacco, Ph.D. author of Beyond Going Postal

On the morning of June 2, 2009, a city letter carrier went to work and reportedly fatally shot himself in the head in the locker room at a postal facility in Gastonia, North Carolina. The Gaston Gazette online news report stated that the “Gastonia Police are investigating an apparent suicide this morning at the post office. . . . One of the employees is inside dead from a gunshot wound.” (more…)

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Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Health Care, Social Justice | 118 Comments »



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